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Post by Pale on Aug 25, 2003 5:02:15 GMT -5
Nicked from my Malazan.Com post... Inspired by the "meaning of names" thread. I thought i may post a few related to the "Scar".As always, some are tenuous others are....intriguing. Sorghum-The rig stolen by Armada noun any grass of the Old World genus Sorghum, having solid stems, and as a source of syrup Gigue- Armadan ship name noun a piece of music, usually in six-eight time and often fugal, incorporated into the classical suite Terpsochoria-New Crobuzon ship pirated by the Armadans Terpsichore noun the Muse of the dance and of choral song [ETYMOLOGY: 18th Century: via Latin from Greek, from terpsikhoros delighting in the dance, from terpein to delight Freggios-The scars of the lovers fregio -Italian (n) decoration, ornament; (Archit) frieze. Anopelli-Violent winged race of the Southern Ocens anopheles noun (plural: -les) any of various mosquitoes constituting the genus Anopheles, some species of which transmit the malaria parasite to man Just a few examples.Anyone else got any ? (The Freggio one is the best i think! ) Anymore ? A review of "The Scar" has won an award over at the "Strange Horizons" site. www.strangehorizons.com/
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Post by Doul on Aug 25, 2003 6:11:10 GMT -5
From the Annotations of PSS:
China Miéville on the Xenian races: "Khepri was the ancient Egyptian god of the rising sun, and of transformations. He was represented by a man with a scarab for a head. My attitude to this sort of stuff is entirely piratical and philistine. I plunder myths or whatever but without any respect for their symbolic heritage. So the Khepri in my world are categorically not symbolic of transformation or anything like that." The Garuda is a gigantic, benevolent bird-man from Buddhist culture; and the vodyanoi are fish or frogs with human faces from Russian folklore. All these were stripped to some extent of their cultural meaning and adapted into alien races for Perdido Street Station.
[p.225] "Why do you not use the Torque?" The Torque is an obvious, albeit wilder, equivalent to our universe's atomic energy.
[p.229] "That's where they dropped the colourbomb in 1545. That's what they said put an end to the Pirate Wars, but to be honest with you, Yag, they'd been over for a year before that [...]" Back in 1945 in the real world, two atomic bombs were dropped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States Air Force. Similarly, and although the Japanese were yet to present their formal surrender, the outcome of World War II was very much decided by that time.
[p.396] "...SAVAGE AND IMPENETRABLE [...] BLACK AND RUSSET..." The Weaver's chant comes from Max Ernst's descriptions of the forests he painted
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Post by Pale on Aug 25, 2003 8:38:19 GMT -5
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Post by Doul on Aug 25, 2003 11:08:15 GMT -5
Cheers pale - I also looked into the Max Ernst stuff but couldn't find anything. That pic is pretty cool:)
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Post by TannerRRSack on Aug 25, 2003 14:01:10 GMT -5
An interesting fact... On the islands of Santerini (off the coast of Greece), the local name for Vampires is...."Bucolacs", or at least it was at the turn of the century. China's inspiration perhaps?
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Oponn
Wyrman
It's a penguin!
Posts: 6
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Post by Oponn on Aug 25, 2003 14:23:02 GMT -5
Uther Pendragon was the father of King Arthur. I can't think of any signifigance to the name and it's propably just coincidence.
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Post by Captain Psyko on Aug 25, 2003 23:26:03 GMT -5
Where do the PSS annotations come from?
Because GOD I'd love to get my hands on those.
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Post by Doul on Aug 26, 2003 2:46:24 GMT -5
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Post by Pale on Aug 28, 2003 5:33:39 GMT -5
Thanks to K P Mahoney for a number of the meanings below:
The Lovers
Do seem to bear some relation to these archetypal Tarot symbols: "love before it is contaminated by gross material desire", "the card is a mystery of the Covenant and Sabbath", and "The suggestion in respect of the woman is that she signifies that attraction towards the sensitive life which carries within it the idea of the Fall of Man, but she is rather the working of a Secret Law of Providence than a willing and conscious temptress. It is through her imputed lapse that man shall arise ultimately, and only by her can he complete himself." *
Ace of Swords
This looks to be a rather nautical tarot card - "Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force" - Uther Dhoul? - "augmentation, multiplicity" are other themes of the novel *
The Chariot
Is also possibly Uther - "An erect and princely figure carrying a drawn sword", "He has led captivity captive; he is conquest on all planes--in the mind, in science, in progress, in certain trials of initiation", "He is not hereditary royalty and he is not priesthood". Uther provides the means for harnessing the Avanc. Yet you can read too much into these Tarot archetypes, and it's debatable whether China Mieville has really drawn form them. The Brucolac does not really fit the figure of The Hanged Man, and Bellis Coldwine is not The Fool
* Sorghum - is a harvestable member of the grass family - can be used for fuel * Michael Clancy, The Great Dhoul, and Death - Uther's surname may come from Irish mythology - this is an engaging tale anyhow *
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Post by Pale on Aug 28, 2003 10:09:03 GMT -5
Ans a few more of my own.
Shaddler ( A riding in Armada ) shad noun (plural: shaddler) Any of various herring-like food fishes of the genus Alosa and related genera, such as A. alosa (allis shad) of Europe, that migrate from the sea to freshwater to spawn: family Clupeidae (herrings) CurHouse ( A Riding ) cur [ noun 1 any vicious dog, esp. a mongrel 2 a despicable or cowardly person
Garwater ( A Riding) garpike ,gar noun 1 Also called: garfish, gar any primitive freshwater elongated bony fish of the genus Lepisosteus, of North and Central America, having very long toothed jaws and a body covering of thick scales 2 another name for: garfish
raddler,raddle verb (Chiefly Brit) to paint (the face) with rouge
Castor 's ( Mercenaries of the Sorghum ) noun (Classical myth) the twin sons of Leda: Pollux was fathered by Zeus, Castor by the mortal Tyndareus. After Castor's death, Pollux spent half his days with his half-brother in Hades and half with the gods in Olympus
Scabmettler ( warriors of Armada ) .Tenuous.But it's possible, Mieville was suggesting their congealed blood has the consistency of base metal. And incorporating "mettle" in the bravery sense of the word.
mettle noun 1 courage; spirit 2 inherent character 3 on one's mettle roused to putting forth one's best efforts [ETYMOLOGY: 16th Century: originally variant spelling of metal]
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Post by TannerRRSack on Aug 28, 2003 15:41:25 GMT -5
Dagnamit Pale! You sir are a veritable fountain of knowledge!
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Post by Luis on Sept 13, 2003 1:09:38 GMT -5
"Forest by Ernst If you cannot see the image. Go here. www.abcgallery.com/E/ernst/ernst28.html" By the way, the bird that appears in the painting and recurrs throughout Ernst's work is Loplop (see King Rat). Brukolakas/Vrykolakas -- it's one of the many Greek words for vampire. There's a boat in THE SCAR named "The Pashakan", which is a reference to Yevgeni Pashukanis. And an Armadan restaurant called "Unrealised Time", also the name of a famous plaza in Mike John Harrison's VIRICONIUM. Best, Luís
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Post by Pale on Sept 14, 2003 8:59:07 GMT -5
@luis.Thanks. I knew China would sneak a MJH reference somewhere in his work. Again,thanks for adding the links elsewhere.
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Post by rockhound on Oct 5, 2003 12:33:20 GMT -5
Someone mentioned Bellis above.
At TORCON, someone asked China about influences and other such, he mentioned Charlotte Bronte, to the point of saying "Bellis is Jane Air"...
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Post by GhostheadThrowback on Oct 5, 2003 20:51:38 GMT -5
Hi there. I just found this board, so I hope I'm not repeating anything, but it's nice to find other fans of China Mieville out here.
Anyway, my contribution to the name topic is this:
The New Crobuzon ship Morning Walker - Wouldn't Morning Walker be synonymous with Dawn Treader, the ship and also title of a C.S. Lewis novel? I've never heard of Mieville mentioning Lewis before, but to me the allusion seems obvious.
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